Thanks Leslie! I actually was aiming to make this one look much more rocklike.

I tried to use more earthy colours. I photographed the shale with the light from the window angled at the top, to offset the shadows I painted and highlight the rock texture. Then I used a Photoshop flood filter to give the shadow on the bottom left more depth.

Sam Gon III website is a resource I have used for years. It's awesome. It's my secret dream to have him link to me.

Richard Fortey was on BBC Radio 5 Live's Simon Mayo show today (Friday) waxing very eloquent about Trilobites, the Ordovician, the Natural History Museum (London) and entertaining but sadly truncated stuff.